Agriculture In Mdcs: Commercial Agriculture

Agriculture: Key Issue 3 Where Are Agricultural Regions in More Developed Countries? Rubenstein, pp. 322-329

● MIXED CROP AND LIVESTOCK FARMING

1. Where is mixed crop and livestock farming common?

2. Describe the irony between the amount of land devoted to crops vs. animals and the income generated by each in this region.

3. How does this type of agriculture allow farmers to more evenly “distribute their workload”?

4. Define/describe the following as they relate to crop rotation: a. cereal grains:

b. fallow:

c. rest crop:

5. What is the history behind the two-field crop rotation system?

6. Explain the four-field system.

● DAIRY FARMING

7. Where is dairy farming the most important? a. What has happened to the share of the world’s dairy farming in LDC’s and what accounts for this change?

8. What is a milkshed?

9. Why do some regions specialize in “milk products” like cheese and butter rather than fluid milk? Identify some these important regions. a. What country is the world’s largest producer of dairy products?

10. What problems do dairy farmers currently face?

● GRAIN FARMING

11. What is the principal difference between grains grown in “commercial grain farming” regions and grains grown in “mixed crop and livestock” regions? W H E A T 12. Complete a bullet list which details the importance of wheat as a crop.

13. Identify the three regions of large-scale grain production in North America.

14. How do farmers and combine companies make use of the fact that the wheat matures at different times in the spring and winter wheat belts?

a. What is a reaper and combine?

● LIVESTOCK RANCHING 15. What type of climate is livestock best adapted to?

16. Describe the “stages” of ranching as it has evolved in the US (and very similarly elsewhere) in the flowchart below.

I. Introduction and II. Open range and cattle III. Fixed location establishment… drives… ranching… ● MEDITERRANEAN AGRICULTURE

17. Describe the climatic conditions of Mediterranean climate and agriculture.

18. Most crops in Mediterranean lands are grown for ______rather than for ______.

19. What is horticulture?

20. List the TWO most important cash crops of Mediterranean regions.

21. Describe the role (and changing role) of California in Mediterranean agriculture.

● COMMERCIAL GARDENING AND FRUIT FARMING

22. What three conditions make the US southeast an ideal location for this type of agriculture?

23. What are the two groups to whom “truck farmers” sell their crops?

24. List the three ways that truck farmers keep labor costs low. i.

28. What is “specialty farming” and where has it spread in the US?